The Tarte Tatin
by Tanis995
Summary: Colette invites Dean over to her apartment to fix him dinner and surprise him with her Tarte Tatin recipe. This one-shot takes place right after Unscheduled Departure and sets up the trip Dean and Colette take in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.


Title: The Tarte Tatin

Author: Tanis915

Fandom: Pan Am

Rating: PG

Cast: Colette Valois, Dean Lowery

The Tarte Tatin

Colette moved briskly about her apartment. She was preparing a nice meal for Dean, who was coming over that evening. Lately, her life had taken a turn towards being quite hectic with a lot of wonderful mixed in.

It was just a few days since the Clipper Majestic incident in Haiti. They made a return trip from Palm Beach back to New York with no small amount of commotion. After all, their trip to Haiti involved a passenger who died and was left on a tarmac, not to mention numerous passenger complaints and threats of lawsuits due to discarded luggage and the like.

Oh yes...and one kiss.

Colette smiled to herself as she recalled it. Dean already held a special place in her heart for the kindness and warmth he showed her in giving her a chance to fly Majestic, albeit for just a moment. In Haiti, she saw a different side of Dean. He was able to step up and make the tough call, risking so much to spare the life of a complete stranger. She was also proud of herself for sticking to her guns to make sure Dean gave their new passenger every consideration.

She remembered watching Dean being rebuked by a Pan Am base commander. In one respect, the reprimand seemed entirely in order. After all, Dean diverted a flight to a known unstable country. He risked the lives of the passengers on board and then left a deceased passenger behind.

On the other hand, while the trip there ended up with the loss of one man's life, a young girl was given the chance for a new life through their actions. In the grand scheme of things, this seemed to be a fair trade.

She remembered looking on Dean with pride as he stood up to the base commander's scolding. The warmth and feelings she had for him deepened by the moment until she simply felt it was wrong not to kiss him. She had to show him in any way she could that his gesture was not lost on anything. Even though the Haitian girl may still end up being deported, the courage Dean showed in risking so much to give this girl the slightest chance at a better life was worth so much to her.

She wanted to show Dean her appreciation by cooking for him inviting him over for the evening. She also figured it would be a great chance for them to spend more time together. She wasn't quite sure where they were headed as a couple, but she knew she liked the view from where they were.

Colette checked the pots on her stove. They were all cooking along nicely, the various smells weaving together to make a nice aroma. Glancing towards her oven, she looked through the glass on the oven door to see the pièce de résistance. Her Tarte Tatin recipe was being baked to a nice golden brown. "Looks about perfect," she commented.

The Tarte Tatin...she remembered learning to bake it as a child at the orphanage where she lived. She took a lot of pride in the compliments she received from people she made her Tarte Tatin for over the years. She was happy to be able to offer it to someone as special to her as Dean.

Colette carefully moved back to the stove, emptying the various pots into their respective serving dishes and trays. She then pulled the Tarte Tatin out of the oven to let it cool. She had about an hour before Dean arrived. She was mostly ready; she just needed a quick wash up and a change into some evening clothes.

At 7pm, her doorbell rang. Dean was right on time.

She opened the door to see Dean, smiling and holding a bouquet of flowers. He said, "You never answered my question of what can I bring, so I figured flowers would be something."

Smiling, she replied, "There's nothing you need to bring, I just wanted to say thank you. But the flowers are certainly welcome. My, they are beautiful!"

"Pretty flowers for a pretty mademoiselle!" Dean took her hand and kissed it.

Chuckling shyly, Colette took the flowers and replied, "You are a sweetheart. Please come in!"

Colette retrieved a vase from her cupboard. Filling it with water from the sink, she placed the flowers in it and set the vase on her dinner table. "There, so we can see them while we eat!"

They adjourned to Colette's den area where they sat together on her couch. Colette said, "Forgive me, but I am neglecting my hostess duties. Would you care for something to drink?"

"Scotch and soda on the rocks would be fine. Wow, you're making me feel like one of your passengers!"

"Well, I want to treat you well like you deserve to be treated. My intentions of having you over tonight are to say thank you and for us to spend more time together."

Colette gave Dean a quick kiss on the cheek before returning to the kitchen to make Dean's drink. Dean leaned back on the sofa. He heard her ask from the kitchen, "Have you heard anything new about punishments over the Haiti incident?"

"No, they're taking their sweet time on this one. I don't know if I should be terrified or if I should just start sending out resumes now."

"I think you will be okay. Mr. Trippe seems to really like you. Surely that must count for something."

"Perhaps...but we're not only dealing with a plane's worth of angry passengers who were diverted from their destination and lost their luggage, but we've got a family crying for justice over us leaving the body of their loved one behind."

Colette returned, her expression changing to one of deep sympathy. She handed Dean the drink and said, "It was a terrible situation, Dean. The normal procedure and decorum just could not apply in a situation where life and death were at stake. I was there. I not only heard the gunfire but I narrowly avoided being hit by it at one point. You took a chance on landing in that horrible place to save a life. And by all accounts, you saved one girl in the process. Try and dwell on that when you feel it was all in vain."

Dean sipped his drink as he listened to Colette. "Thank you, that does help. And thank you for believing in me."

Smiling, Colette placed her hand on Dean's thigh. "You are special to me, Dean. I want to get to know you better." Leaning in to him, she kissed him softly on the lips.

Dean carefully set his glass on the table next to the sofa and kissed her back. Colette pulled back to smile and look at him. Dean said, "I could certainly get used to that!"

Smiling, Colette remarked, "As could I. Tell you what, how about we make a point to continue that soon. For now, I want to give you a wonderful dinner with a surprise for dessert."

"Sure, it really smells great!"

The meal was Chicken Cordon Bleu with steamed asparagus and potatoes au gratin. To drink, they had chardonnay. As they ate, Colette told Dean about her childhood.

"I grew up in an orphanage on the outskirts of Paris. It was what you'd call 'In the country'. I was fortunate to be able to learn how to cook while growing up there. The cook at the orphanage was a very nice man and he showed me a lot about cooking. His name was Robert and he adored me like I was his own daughter."

Dean smiled, "Already charming men at such an early age!"

Colette laughed, "Yes, I suppose I was. Anyway, Robert once showed me his family recipe for Tarte Tatin. It is a French pastry with apples, cinnamon and flour. You might think of it as an upside down apple pie. That was my favorite thing to make, and I worked at that recipe until I knew it by heart."

"Wow, it sounds delicious. So why do I get the feeling this is a lead in to you baking Tarte Tatin for this evening?"

"How perceptive you are, Dean. Yes, of course. Allow me to serve you a piece!"

With that, Colette stood up and retrieved the dinner dishes they were finished with from the table. Dean leaned back in his chair and wiped his mouth with his napkin, commenting, "You know, I actually grew up in the country myself. In fact, my parents still live there, about 100 miles from here. Mom was quite the chef, and she taught me a few things about cooking as well."

As she placed the dirty dishes in her sink, Colette grabbed the pan with the Tarte Tatin, carefully slicing two pieces from it. She glanced at Dean as he spoke and replied, "It is so nice to be able to learn cooking and then be able to do it for yourself, no?"

"Well, I learned but I'm certainly not able to cook like she does or you do. Maybe one day."

"It just takes time, patience and practice. If you can fly a 707 jet I think you can manage cooking a recipe or two."

Dean smiled as Colette returned to the table with two dishes, each with a fork and a healthy serving of Tarte Tatin on them.

Placing her napkin back on her lap, Colette smiled at Dean, "Enjoy, and thank you for all that you do and all that you are."

Dean nodded to Colette's thank you, replying, "And thank you for being so wonderful a person in every way I can imagine."

They took their forks and pulled a piece of the pastry on them. It was still somewhat warm from the oven, but was not too hot to eat. Dean enjoyed the tartness of the apples mixed with the sweet spiciness of the cinnamon as well as the flaky flour crust.

"Mmmm! Colette, this is fantastic! This reminds me of Mom's apple cobbler!"

Colette was impressed by the comparison. "I always consider it high praise to have my cooking compared favorably with that of someone's mother. Thank you, Dean!"

"And thank YOU. Wow, this is great. Okay, you've done something so nice for me...how about I return the favor? Say...maybe another flying lesson? Only this time you get to do more of the flying. What do you think?"

Smiling her sweet smile, she replied, "We'll see, my dear. We'll see!"


End file.
